FOCUS National Conference

Important info: • The conference will be held at: Orlando Marriot World Center • All conference questions should be directed to conference@focusonline.org • Why Dec 30 – Jan 3? - To consecrate the New Year to Our Lady, the Theotókos, whose feast day is celebrated January 1st - To increase the number of participants: 25% of schools start the spring semester or have their J-term during the week of January 4th - To celebrate the dawn of 2010 with a big FOCUS New Years Eve Party!

Why the theme “Made for More”? A glance into American society today reveals a simple fact: people are searching for something more. While we may not know for what or for whom, the present lack of fulfillment in our culture reflects the deep sense of need we have for healing, peace and meaning. In these present times of economic uncertainty and transition, young adults are looking for answers to their deepest and most difficult questions pertaining to life, identity and purpose. Unsatisfied by what’s been offered to previous generations, today’s young adults seem more willing to break from traditional avenues and promises of “the American dream” in exchange for believing in the possibility of fulfilling the deepest longings and desires of their hearts. Impossible to ignore, today’s college students live with an awareness that they are truly made for more.

Why John 10:10? The context of the Gospel of John, chapter 10, is Jesus’ teaching about Himself as the Good Shepherd. In contrast to “the thief” who came only to steal, kill and destroy, and “the hireling” who watched over the sheep solely for monetary compensation, Jesus differentiates Himself in that He came in order to give us “life” and “life abundant” or “life to the fullest.” While the primary interpretation of this Scripture is salvific (that in Christ’s giving of Himself in death, humanity is now able to come alive spiritually in this life and in the life to come), its power and meaning resonates when applied to the landscape of youth and young adults in today’s American culture. Generation Y and Z, or the “Net Gen” (10-30 years of age) as they’re more commonly referred to, are the most marketed to generation in American history. Each day, they receive thousands of messages through media outlets such as the internet, film, television, texting, billboards, etc. Unfortunately, more often than not, these messages serve as “the thief” that seeks to rob them of the true joy, peace and fulfillment they seek. Ecclesiates 3:11 says that “God has set eternity into the hearts of men.” In other words, every person was created with an innate sense of longing; a longing and yearning for wholeness, for truth and total fulfillment. As God would have it, no material object, status or person can ever satisfy that eternal longing. God alone is able to quench the eternal thirst. John 10:10 speaks a powerful and counter-cultural voice into the hearts of those still seeking the source of truth and meaning and serves as a great reminder to those who have come to know the voice of the Shepherd. Every human being on the earth was created in love and made to know the author and source of life, Jesus Christ the Lord. Through knowing Him, we can discover God’s will for our life, which offers the something “more” all of us are searching for.